Worth Watching

In an effort to showcase things worth watching either on TV or the internet... I bring the first installment of "Worth Watching".

Please watch all four of these episodes. This was a really informative show about what happened with the banks and the economy.

PBS - Frontline: Money, Power and Wall Street/

Notable on Blu Today

The Fighter will be available on Blu-Ray today. I have not seen this movie, but I hear it might be good. 

Movie Review
Technical Review

Home Theater Basics

There are a lot of people who do not know what they are getting when shopping for TVs or surround sound systems. This is bad and with all the information available on the internet customers should have at least a basic understand of what they are looking for.  Well instead of searching the internet for the best brands or products with the highest ratings,  I’ll point you to an article that contains some basic information one needs when setting up even the basic of home theaters.

Electronic House - Home Theater Basics: 12 Things for Newbies

If you don’t want to read it here are some of the important tips:

• When you’re planning your theater, a guideline for display size is that the viewing distance (the distance from you to the screen) should be 2 to 3 times the width of the screen (actually width, not the diagonal size).
• The three front speakers do most of the work to produce sounds that correspond with the action on the screen. Two speakers, called the front left and right channels, are typically placed on either side of the video display. A center-channel speaker is often placed above or below the screen.
• The role of surround speakers is to convey ambient sounds, such as background noises, rumbles or passing cars or planes.
• Specialty speakers called subwoofers produce low bass sounds so you will hear the full impact of sound effects such as explosions or the roar of a jet engine. …In surround-sound parlance, subwoofers represent the “.1” in 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 systems…

While I agree with a lot of these tips, I feel a few other things need to be said:

• While a full sound sound system is ideal, sometimes a good sound bar can be a better investment.
• When selecting a TV at the store you should be familiar with the companies product line to be sure you are not purchasing from the bottom.
• The TV is going to be something you will look at a lot, so make your investment count.
• When it comes to surround, you’ll need an Audio Receiver, if you’re not sure about spending the money, just remember TVs still come with speakers built in or the sound bar options is still good.

Notable On Blu Today

Today on Blu-Ray one can grab ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’. It’s a Disney release, but does contains the original Japanese soundtrack. Enjoy!

Movie Review

Technical Review

Facebook + Movies = ????

Warner Brothers Studio is planning to offer ‘The Dark Knight’ for your viewing pleasure on Facebook.  It’s set to be a test run and if successful, hope not, other movies will become available. One can already rent this movie from Amazon.com, but that’s not on the Facebook home page, so it doesn’t count.

This could be good if Facebook allows one to tag scenes for commenting or shared renting where one person rents and their friends can watch it too. Oh well…

[The Hollywood Reporter]

Technology Disrupting Sleep

Looks like a lot of us are not getting the sleep we need. According to an article by the National Sleep Foundation, the use of electronic devices appears to prevent ours bodies from winding down before bed. Our minds are kept too alert with the use of laptops and cell phones directly before bed. This issue is mostly affecting the Y and Z generations (29 - 13 years old). Can you relate to this?

I find myself tired in the morning even with a reasonable bed time I suppose I now know what might be my issue. I normally use my cell phone in bed to catch up on news. Apparently, this process is keeping my brain alert and not allowing it to prepare for sleep. This would be the equivalent of sleeping an hour later, not using my phone of course.

It's a good read and really opened my eyes as to why I'm tired. A few tips are suggested on getting better rest, but for some odd reason they did not list avoiding electronics devices at night. :) That is what I will try.

Annual Sleep in America Poll

So it begins…

What?  What might be here… who knows… something good I hope